Thursday

May 10, 2018 at 3:00 AM

At 16 years old, Aiyana Hayes is the youngest student at the University of South Carolina Sumter and among the youngest throughout USC's 47,000-student system statewide .Aiyana has always been smart, but she hasn't always been in control. Like many kids with autism, Aiyana used to panic if she was around too many loud noises.

Aiyana Hayes was on a mission to educate.

In kindergarten, she taught her classmates how to read. If she saw an adult smoking, she would hurl facts at them about the toxicity of cigarettes. Once, to the chagrin of her parents, she accosted an overweight woman in the grocery store and told her she wouldn't be so fat if she bought healthier food.

That's what children with Asperger's do. They're highly intelligent but struggle to recognize social cues.

But children with Asperger's – a form of high-functioning autism once referred to as Little Professor Syndrome – don't usually enroll in college at 14, make honors society by 15 and tutor their collegiate peers – all before getting their driver's licenses.

"They know I'm younger but I don't always act younger," Aiyana said of her interactions with her peers at USC Sumter. "I know how to blend in but I know how to stand out."

At 16 years old, Aiyana Hayes is the youngest student at the University of South Carolina Sumter and among the youngest throughout USC's 47,000-student system statewide.

Some, but not all, people with Asperger's have savant-like talents, said Mary Sturgill, a spokeswoman for South Carolina Autism Society. But even among those, Aiyana stands out.

"Kids her age are usually still in high school," Sturgill said. "So she's quite a young lady."

One in 59 children has a form of autism – which is more than previously thought – and it is more common in boys than girls, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number has been increasing, and doctors neither know what causes it nor why more children are being diagnosed.

Aiyana stands 4 feet 9 inches and looks young compared to her peers, but she's used to that. Her Turner syndrome keeps her short and throws off her hormones.

She has always been both smaller and smarter than her peers, "so with her being in college with an age difference, that's how it's always been," her father, Toby, said.

Aiyana has always been smart, but she hasn't always been in control. Like many kids with autism, Aiyana used to panic if she was around too many loud noises.

"Fourth of July used to be a nightmare," her mother, Stephanie, said.

Aiyana used to be home-schooled, and large groups of people would overwhelm her. She has come a long way, especially after taking the SAT in eighth grade without studying, skipping high school and going straight to college at USC Sumter.

But she's not there yet. Like many students with autism, she fidgets in class. She makes very little eye contact during conversations and struggles with anxiety.

"I'm a very anxious driver," said Aiyana, who is working on getting her learner's permit. "It's kind of been a pain."

Through faith, a healthy lifestyle and the family's blunt willingness to confront the very things that stress her out, Aiyana has learned to not only live with her autism, but to excel in spite of it.

"You should have seen (her) five years ago," her mother said. "You would have seen a different Aiyana."

As a result, she no longer accosts people in the grocery store or bothers weary smokers. That intellectual energy is channeled into her Mormon faith, researching genetics, learning several musical instruments and gunning for an internship at Microsoft aimed at hiring people with autism.

"I saw the world in a very black-and-white way," Aiyanna said. "Now I see the world is a little more gray."

When she graduates from USC Sumter next year she wants to go to Southern Virginia University with the intention of studying genetics. She says it's the perfect intersection between her two favorite topics: anthropology and computer science.

The Little Professor says she is no longer on a mission to educate. She's on a mission to learn.

PUSHING BUTTONS

Because Aiyana was their first child, Toby and Stephanie thought her behavior was fairly normal. Then she went to preschool and started acting out. Stephanie recalls one time where the teacher called her to say Aiyana was throwing chairs. The teacher couldn't control her. But as soon as Stephanie walked in, Aiyana stopped, instantly became calm and said "hi mommy."

Aiyana acted that way because she wanted to go home, where she was with her family and comfortable – and away from the loud, rambunctious classmates. Aiyana had read the teacher's handbook, memorized it, and figured out exactly how to get sent home. After all, she had been asking to be sent home, Stephanie recalls.

"I couldn't even make my own child listen to me. I couldn't even communicate with her," Stephanie said. "When I found out she had autism, it was a relief."

She had thought she was "the worst mom in the world."

Stephanie also learned she had to challenge Aiyana if her daughter was ever going to cope with the real world. So instead of avoiding the things that agitate her autism – such as loud noises, sarcasm and large groups of people – her family immersed Aiyana in it. Stephanie refers to it, benevolently, as "pushing buttons."

For example, as we meet Aiyana on USC Sumter's campus, the topic of Aiyana's academic advisers comes up.

"Actually your old adviser didn't like you anymore so she asked to be transferred," Stephanie says to Aiyana.

Aiyana turns around, smiles and says "lie!"

"Humor is a big part of our family," Aiyana explains.

As for her five younger siblings – four brothers and one sister – they're not allowed to treat her any different than they treat one another. As Chandler, 14, the oldest boy in the family, runs to Aiyana to give her a hug, she smiles and calls him "weirdo."

Chandler explains it's his "job" to playfully harass his sister just like any other member of the family.

"I always taught my boys you don't treat Aiyana any different because she's autistic," Stephanie said. "It doesn't define her any more than her blue eyes and curly hair."

Sometimes, it's not the family that tests Aiyana's ability to control her autism. It's the real world.

In the 18 years Stephanie and Toby have been married, they've lived in six states, Toby said. Aiyana, born in Utah, has lived in California, Texas and for the last two years, South Carolina.

"As hard as it has been to go to California, to Texas ... it's made all the difference," Toby said.

Aiyana living in South Carolina and attending USC Sumter has been good for the Hayes family, Stephanie said.

"It's the first place she went that people weren't intimidated by her knowledge," Stephanie said.

To fight her autism and Turner syndrome – which increases her risk of obesity and cancer and prevents her from having children – Aiyana walks to school, three miles to and from her home, rain or shine. Walking has the triple-benefit of reducing the anxiety associated with autism, keeping off the weight often associated with Turner syndrome, and best of all: giving her a chance to listen to her favorite music.

Her enthusiasm for music is a surreal reminder that despite her intellect, she's still a teenager. After all, she has a crush on a guy at her church. She "is addicted" to the online game Minecraft. Driving makes her nervous. And she loves violinist/dancer/songwriter Lindsey Stirling, especially Stirling's "Shatter Me," which is about freeing yourself from the cookie-cutter expectations others have for us.

"In many ways I've had to break through the ideas that circulate through my head that I can't do things," Aiyana said, describing how she related to her favorite artist. "The fact that I can be the best me is very inspiring."

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